Thursday, April 23, 2015

A 100th Wedding Anniversary!

Celebrating

William Shepard and Bura Davis Shepard

On the Occasion of Their

100th Wedding Anniversary

A Century Ago. 100 years ago, on June 2, 1915, my grandparents William Shepard (1888-1976) and Bura Emerald Davis (1896-1986) were married in Beaver County, Oklahoma. This page of The Shepard's Crook is the place to honor them and celebrate their life, their marriage, and their living legacy. Though William has been gone for 39 years, and Bura for 29 years, we remember them still.An Historic Recording of William Shepard. The following photo presentation includes an actual recording from 40 years ago -- in 1975 -- when William Shepard was interviewed by the minister of the El Cajon Boulevard Church of Christ in San Diego. In this interview William, with Bura at his side, describes what it was like the day he and Bura were married. (If you have trouble viewing or hearing this presentation on a mobile device, please try it on a desktop computer.)

A Clan of 87. Over the last century, Will and Bura's marriage has lead to the creation of a large family which includes...

4 children,

12 Grandchildren,

21 Great Grandchildren,

15 Great Great Grandchildren,

and 2 Great Great Great Grandchildren.

Will and Bura's 60th Wedding Anniversary in 1975

That is a total of 54 direct descendants who have been born to them over the last century, better than 1 birth every other year for 100 years. Add to that total the 31 men and women who have married into their family over the years, and you have a clan of 87 individuals. 73 of those 87 people are still around today, and range in age from 5 months old to 90 years old. They are scattered around the Western United States in San Diego, Northern California, Utah, Washington, Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and Missouri. Just to the right of this post on the main page of The Shepard's Crook are pictures of 9 of the youngest of those 73 descendants of Will and Bura. Scattered throughout the posts of this blog are pictures of every single one of their descendants.Here's an interesting note: Of those 73 descendants who are alive today, 32 were born since William Shepard died in 1976. That means that close to half of the descendants of William and Bura who are alive today never had the opportunity to meet William or Bura. Those of us who are fortunate enough to have known them were touched by their lives in a wide variety of ways. The memories we have of them are numerous and varied; the gratitude we feel is immense; the debt we owe to them is beyond measure.William and Bura Through The Years: a Collage of Images and Sound. The following musical photo presentation shows a variety of images of William and Bura Davis Shepard and their family. Some of the same pictures are included in the presentation above. This one, however, does not include the 1975 recorded interview. Instead it shares a wide variety of family pictures from 1914 through the 1980s. (If you have trouble viewing or hearing this presentation on a mobile device, please try viewing it on a desktop computer.)

For More Information. Here are some links to other informative blog posts regarding Will and Bura's wedding on June 2, 1915:

Whether you are a descendant of theirs, a family friend, a relative, or are connected to them in some other way, be a part of this growing online Wedding Anniversary Celebration. If you have suggestions about how we might expand this page honoring them, please let me know.

Greenwood Cemetery, San Diego

What Say You? At the bottom of this post is a place where you can leave some comments. Your comments may be just a sentence or two, or perhaps longer. I invite you to leave some thoughts regarding this 100th Wedding Anniversary Celebration. You can respond to one of the following questions, or comment however you would like.

What is your favorite memory of William and Bura Shepard?

What important life lessons did you receive from them?

What was the most important thing about them?

What special moments did you share with them?

How did they impact your life?

How is your life different today for having been touched by their lives?

Click on "post a comment" below to leave your thoughts, memories, reflections, or words of gratitude for the late William and Bura Davis Shepard.Let's make their 100th Wedding Anniversary worthy of their life and legacy!- - -Steve Shepard

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Welcome!

Welcome and thanks for visiting this Family Genealogy Blog!

You can read here about the history and happenings of the descendants and family of my grandparents William and Bura Davis Shepard, and Leroy and Nola Shannon Gower, and see family pictures that punctuate the point.

For more about the history of our family visit Ancestry.com - in particular tree name "EShepard", but also trees named "Boyd Family Tree", "Everidge Family Tree', and "Owens Family Tree".

The following are SURNAMES referred to multiple times in this blog. Select a surname to see the posts regarding that particular name. (The larger the type, the more the number of references.)